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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29421954">i see us on a beach</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/m1347/pseuds/m1347'>m1347</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supergirl (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Excessive Amounts of Alliteration, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, cameos by other DCU characters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:40:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,960</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29421954</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/m1347/pseuds/m1347</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"If later asked to recount exactly how her first Valentine’s Day with Tiff had spiraled into near-disaster before it even began, Kara intended to lay the blame squarely at the feet of the plush, pink teddy bear that caught her eye one evening early in February."</p><p>College student Kara Danvers celebrates her first Valentine's Day with girlfriend Tiff Stoll. She's determined to make it as close to perfect as (super)humanly possible, but as always, the universe is equally determined to make her really work for it.</p><p>(A comedy of errors with a happy ending.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kara Danvers/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>i see us on a beach</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertLily/gifts">DesertLily</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>First and foremost, I'd like to wish the happiest of Valentine's Days to my lovely and incredible girlfriend, for whom this fic was written (and whose work you should definitely check out <a href="/users/DesertLily">here!</a>). Tiff Stoll is also their original character.</p><p>Many thanks to <a href="/users/bisexualoftheblade">bisexualoftheblade</a> for beta reading!!!</p><p>Happy Valentine's Day to all, and I hope you enjoy reading this at least as much as I did writing it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If later asked to recount exactly how her first Valentine’s Day with Tiff had spiraled into near-disaster before it even began, Kara intended to lay the blame squarely at the feet of the plush, pink teddy bear that caught her eye one evening early in February.</p><p> </p><p>Its big, brown eyes innocently bored into her soul. <em>Your girlfriend will love me forever</em>, they seemed to say. A quick look into the heart-shaped box held between its adorable paws revealed it to contain four chocolates with pink raspberry filling. Kara imagined the look on Tiff’s face, and found herself so charmed that by the time she regained control of her senses, she was standing in line at checkout.</p><p> </p><p>Glancing down at the bear in one hand, the Kryptonian realized with a jolt that she’d failed to grab the tampons she’d come for. She quickly ducked out of line, gave an awkward wave to the woman in line behind her, and headed for the back of the store.</p><p> </p><p>Pre-menstrual mission accomplished, Kara rejoined the line. She enjoyed the unique bliss of ignorance, or at least of lack of foresight, right up until the teenaged cashier informed her, “Your total is $57.48.”</p><p> </p><p>Kara’s accusatory glance at the tampons was met with complete indifference by the two blue boxes, and the betrayed blonde turned her regretful gaze toward the Valentine’s bear. A closer inspection of its price tag revealed that despite its six-inch stature, its retail price was $24.99. Kara glanced conflictedly between the cashier and the pink peril. The cashier began to ask if she wanted to cancel the purchase. Once again prevailed upon by the un<em>bear</em>ably cute countenance, Kara awkwardly interrupted, “No, no, it’s fine! I’ll take it!”</p><p> </p><p>The cashier regarded her and the bear with incredulity and mild derision for a second, and then returned his terminally bored gaze to the register. Kara told herself the sudden heat in her cheeks was nothing more than a side effect of her mask. As she hastened to retrieve the money from her wallet while conveniently also avoiding eye contact with the clerk, the smitten shopper realized she only had three twenty-dollar bills, and would be out of money for the foreseeable future.</p><p> </p><p>Kara and her billfold heaved a silent sigh in tandem, and she could swear she watched it cycle quickly through the first four stages of grief until it reached acceptance and limply gave forth the last of her money. <em>The state of your wallet is no object when your </em>heart <em>is full</em>, intoned an excessively sentimental voice Kara chose to ascribe to the bear. Though she doubted both the relevance and total veracity of the statement, the girl paid for the gift certain that her first Valentine’s Day with Tiff would be a good one.</p><p> </p><p>Kara returned home and was greeted by her dad, who asked how her trip had gone. He innocuously commented on the pink bear in Kara’s reusable bag, though she couldn’t tell from his goofy grin whether he was glad or just laughing. Then she considered the borderline ridiculous gestures she’d seen him make for her mom, and decided he was probably anticipating how he would recount this later to Eliza. Well, at least Kara knew to crank her headphones to blast when she got upstairs. She’d accidentally overheard her parents discussing her love life more than once and harbored an ardent desire never to do so again. The blonde grinned as Lady Gaga started playing, and she idly began to wonder if and how one should wrap a teddy bear.</p><p> </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p> </p><p>Several days later, Kara found herself enjoying takeout with Tiff in her dorm room. They’d mostly finished their tacos, and were immersed in keen conversation. Kara had happily lost track of time and was listening with interest as her girlfriend concluded a decrial of hypocritical corporations profiting from pride merchandise when they had historically participated in the oppression of gay and trans people, and in many cases continued to do so.</p><p> </p><p>“Actually, that reminds me,” said Tiff. “I wanted to talk to you about Valentine’s Day?”</p><p> </p><p>Kara blinked. “Okay, sure.”</p><p> </p><p>“So, um, I don’t think we necessarily have to do a gift exchange? It’s just that the whole holiday was pretty much invented for corporations to be able to sell all these extra cards, and candy and things, and it’s not really… I mean, buying things isn’t really necessary to express love, you know?” the brunette explained.</p><p> </p><p>“Mm,” said Kara, biting her lip.</p><p> </p><p>“Not that I don’t want to spend time with you for Valentine’s! I just didn’t want you to go out of your way buying something for me,” Tiff backpedaled, noticing Kara’s expression. “Like Valentine’s Day cards. It seems like you can only find ones for straight couples- like, if it’s addressed to ‘my girlfriend,’ they always seem to say or imply it’s from a man, and there’s no reason for us both to spend that much money on cards when they’re so expensive and not even relevant to us… Kara?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p> </p><p>“I feel like I’ve said something wrong?”</p><p> </p><p>“Mm-mm,” Kara disagreed.</p><p> </p><p>“You stopped breathing about a minute ago,” Tiff pointed out. Kara sucked in a breath, gave up mentally scrambling for solutions, and attempted to repair the neural pathway between her brain and her mouth.</p><p> </p><p>“A date sounds good!” she managed. “And I don’t need a gift or anything, I’d much rather just spend time with you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” said Tiff, somewhat reassured. “And you won’t feel like you have to buy me anything. Right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” replied Kara. “I won’t, uh, go buying you anything.”</p><p> </p><p>Tiff scrutinized her for a moment before asking, “You’re sure? If you do really want a card, I wouldn’t mind buying one.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, no, you write me plenty of adorable texts and notes and things! And your company is the best gift ever,” Kara returned more confidently, grinning at her girlfriend and scooting closer in order to wrap an arm around her.</p><p> </p><p>Kara rested her chin on top of Tiff’s head, which Tiff claimed to dislike, but always responded to by snuggling slightly closer. This time was no exception, although the brunette did retaliate by stealing the last taco off Kara’s plate. Kara laughed and kissed Tiff’s hair.</p><p> </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p> </p><p>Later that night, once she had returned home, the superheroine began to revise her Valentine’s Day strategy. Even if her girlfriend did want to celebrate without spending money, Kara was determined to make their holiday the best one possible.</p><p> </p><p>But first, there was the matter of the Magenta Mistake. Recalling in too-vivid detail the judgy eyes of the cashier, Kara knew that neatly disposing of the unctuous ursus by getting a refund would be a difficult task indeed.</p><p> </p><p>She couldn’t just keep the bear, Kara reasoned. It cost too much money to simply stow in the bottom of a drawer, and it would just be an embarrassing reminder of her failed Plan A. No, the mature, practical thing to do was to return it. But that would be a complicated endeavor. Personally enduring the scrutiny of the clerk as she returned the gift was out of the question.</p><p> </p><p>Kara needed someone to bravely venture in her place to the store. Someone who looked exactly like the sorry kind of schmuck who’d need to return an optimistically-bought Valentine’s Day present right before the holiday. Fortunately, Kara knew just the man for the job.</p><p> </p><p><em>Need a favor</em>, she texted Clark.</p><p> </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p> </p><p>On an out-of-the-way Metropolis rooftop, two caped silhouettes met to look out over the city and discuss a matter of utmost importance.</p><p> </p><p>Well, Kara felt it was important. Kal looked like he was straining every muscle he had not to fall off the roof laughing. Kara, stone-faced, retracted the proffered plushy, and began contemplating which impolite word she would laser-etch into his haircut.</p><p> </p><p>Superman unwittingly rescued both his personal and professional life from the brink of disgrace by keeping silent. He then drew on years of experience as a professional reporter in order to ask, mostly evenly, “so you called me here… because some guy got you an early Valentine’s Day gift?”</p><p> </p><p>“No!” Kara answered, offended. Kal waited for elaboration, and when none came, he correctly interpreted Kara’s sudden inability to make eye contact. (It also didn’t help that the darkness did nothing to prevent Kryptonian eyes from seeing Kara’s blush.)</p><p> </p><p>“…<em>You</em> bought this,” he surmised, lips twitching again. “You-” he paused, narrowing his eyes in the direction of the chocolate-bearing bear, “spent <em>twenty-five dollars</em> on that?” This, apparently, was enough to finally send him over the edge. Literally.</p><p> </p><p>Kara cursed her cousin’s sharp eyes, journalism degree, marriage to Lois Lane, and frequent partnerships with Batman in turn. Once he had floated back up to the rooftop and stopped laughing <em>as</em> loudly, she snapped, “This is homophobic, Kal!”</p><p>The other Kryptonian gave an aborted snort and said, “<em>How?</em>”</p><p> </p><p>Kara glared. “I’m gay, and I feel persecuted. By you. Personally.”</p><p> </p><p>The dark-haired man narrowed his eyes skeptically. “That’s not how that works.”</p><p> </p><p>“Do you really get to be the judge of that, straight cis-man?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s Superman, actually,” he corrected casually. “And I could be a little gay. You can’t just assume my sexuality.”</p><p> </p><p>The twenty-year-old side-eyed him, and wondered whether he was just being argumentative, or if she would have to bring this up again later. Well, he was Clark, she reasoned. He would bring it up if he wanted to talk about it.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking off this train of thought, Kara crossed her arms. “You’re supposed to be helping.”</p><p> </p><p>Kal shrugged. “I still don’t see what the problem is, other than you spending way too much money-” here he swiftly dodged Supergirl’s blue-clad elbow- “unless you’re having some kind of crisis over whether this girl likes you back?”</p><p> </p><p>“I know she likes me back,” Kara hedged. She hadn’t precisely mentioned Tiff by name to Clark. He knew she was a lesbian, and she had mentioned dates to him a few times before when she needed to plan or rearrange monitor duty schedules, but she’d carefully omitted any details that might lead him to believe she’d had a steady girlfriend for over six months.</p><p> </p><p>This was mainly because if Clark knew about Tiff, he would want to meet her. Tiff, who knew of Kara’s secret identity, was intelligent enough to piece together that Kara Danvers’s tall, dark-haired cousin was also Kara Zor-El’s tall, dark-haired cousin. Kara detested the idea of lying to her girlfriend, especially about something as important as family, and refused to introduce Clark as a family friend. But if she didn’t want to lie to her girlfriend, she’d have to effectively out her cousin’s secret identity for him. Also, if Superman found out that Kara had revealed her identity so early on in her relationship with Tiff, Kara felt he was likely to lecture her about operations security. (She was also sure the fact that <em>his</em> girlfriend had figured him out on her own made him less sympathetic to Kara’s plight.)</p><p> </p><p>“It’s just that there’s been,” she paused, “a change of plans, and I need to, like, get rid of this thing.” She gestured hastily toward the bear.</p><p> </p><p>“I see,” Clark nodded sagely. “You need me to take him out of the picture.” His eyes started to glow slightly red, and Kara smacked him on the head.</p><p> </p><p>“No, stupid!” Kara exhaled, then blurted, “it was a mistake, but it was an expensive one and now I need you to return it, to the store, so I can get my money back and pretend it never happened!”</p><p> </p><p>Clark looked reproachfully at his younger cousin. “So you found out she likes you back, and now you won’t give her the gift? And you call <em>me</em> the stupid one?”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s not- she specifically said she didn’t want anything! So I have to un-buy her the thing I got for her because she told me not to get it!”</p><p> </p><p>“Your mysterious Juliet, who knows you like her, and says she likes you back, found out you bought her a Valentine’s Day gift and told you to return it,” Clark summarized skeptically.</p><p> </p><p>Well, now he was just being deliberately obtuse. “I didn’t tell her I had already bought something,” Kara admitted.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s really unlike you to be so nervous,” Clark said speculatively.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not!” Kara defended. “I just really want it to be perfect.” Because it was their first, she left unsaid. Because they had both been through more than anyone should in the past year- few years, really. Because Tiff deserved to be swept off her feet a little.</p><p> </p><p>“And you thought that was perfect?” Clark nodded to the bear.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s cute, and it’s pink, and she really likes pink, and the chocolates are even pink inside, and it just made me think of her when I saw it!”</p><p> </p><p>Clark looked like he was trying not to laugh again, except now he also looked fond. “So give it to her,” he said, and seeing Kara’s look, he added, “Did she specifically say, in these words, ‘<em>I do not want a Valentine’s Day gift</em>?’”</p><p> </p><p>“Not in those exact words,” Kara mused. “It was more that she said we didn’t have to buy each other things, because it’s all for, like, corporate greed? And heteronormativity?”</p><p> </p><p>“Then give her the gift,” he said. “If you tell her you already bought it, that it made you think of her, there’s no way she’ll be offended.”</p><p> </p><p>Then Kal grinned and added, “Just make sure you cut the price tag off first. Otherwise she’ll know you’re a big dummy.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey!” Kara made to shove him off the rooftop, but he saw it coming and moved out of the way. Kara would just have to get him back when they sparred later that week.</p><p> </p><p>During her flight home, the Kryptonian turned her mind again to her master plan for Valentine’s Day, running through every preference or wish she could remember Tiff mentioning. Every idea she could think of seemed overly extravagant enough to make Tiff uncomfortable, and the blonde lamented this fact as she passed a break in the clouds and glanced at the moon. Silhouetted in silver, Supergirl absently wondered how many hours it would be until the sun rose.</p><p> </p><p>Kara froze in midair, grinning widely and fighting the urge to do a little dance in the cold February night air. Now <em>there</em> was a perfect idea...</p><p> </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p> </p><p>Kara rose to meet a gray, snowy Valentine’s Day with some trepidation, but when the time came, she packed the teddy in her backpack before flying to campus to meet Tiff. She greeted her girlfriend a little shyly, wrapping an arm around her to kiss her on the cheek before wishing her a happy Valentine’s Day. To the Kryptonian’s surprise, Tiff also looked a little nervous. Kara summoned her courage and spoke first.</p><p> </p><p>“So I know that you said not to get you a gift, and I wouldn’t have bought you anything after that, only I had already bought this thing, and… You don’t have to take it if you don’t want it, of course, but it made me think of you and I thought maybe you’d- oh, here,” Kara said, slightly rushed, and suddenly remembering she hadn’t shown Tiff the bear yet.</p><p> </p><p>Biting her lip, the blonde extended the pink stuffed animal toward Tiff. She hoped her face didn’t match the color of the bear.</p><p> </p><p>The corners of Tiff’s mouth ticked upwards. “You really bought this before I brought up exchanging valentines?” At Kara’s nod, she asked, “But why didn’t you say anything?”</p><p> </p><p>The hesitant alien grimaced. “I was kind of going to bring it back after you said you didn’t want a store-bought gift? But then I thought maybe you’d, uh, like it anyway.” Now that she said it out loud and in front of her girlfriend, it was sounding less and less like a good idea. Kara started to slowly retract the fuchsia faux pas.</p><p> </p><p>But Tiff smiled, and reached out to inspect the pastel pink-trimmed bear. “I do like it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” said Kara. “But, like, if you don’t, I also had this other thing…”</p><p> </p><p>The brunette ducked her head, but Kara could see her smile widening. “I do like it,” Tiff repeated, and peered at the label on the box held between the bear’s outstretched arms. “Raspberry crème-filled chocolates?”</p><p> </p><p>“They’re pink,” Kara said by way of explanation. “And you’re still getting the other thing too, you know.”</p><p> </p><p>Tiff frowned. “But I don’t want two gifts.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, it’s not even really a gift, so much as,” Kara gestured broadly, “an <em>experience</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>The pre-law student did not look convinced. “Right. Well, before we get into that, don’t you want to see what I got you?”</p><p>Kara’s brow furrowed in confusion. “You bought me a gift?”</p><p> </p><p>The brunette smiled a little deviously. “No.” She did not elaborate before steering Kara into her dorm room, where she pulled out one of the storage crates from beneath her bed and carefully extracted an item.</p><p> </p><p>Tiff now held a slightly curved, oval-shaped object wrapped in red paper.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, hold on,” protested Kara. “So buying gifts isn’t okay, but we were still supposed to wrap them?”</p><p> </p><p>“Just be glad I didn’t buy the paper with the Superman symbol on it,” Tiff said impatiently.</p><p> </p><p>Kara’s mouth opened in outrage. “<em>It’s not the </em>Superman<em> symbol!</em> It’s the crest of the House of El! It’s not his property and just because-” Kara stopped as she realized Tiff had successfully distracted her. Well, that and she was rapidly losing her resolve not to use her powers to peek through the paper.</p><p> </p><p>“You’d better not be peeking,” Tiff said shrewdly. Rao, maybe getting adopted by Batman endowed you automatically with near-omniscient levels of observation? They should really look into that. Kara didn’t know who “they” was. Maybe the League?</p><p> </p><p>“I wasn’t peeking! Can I open it now?” Kara looked to Tiff for permission, and upon receiving it, she delicately pulled back the bright paper to reveal a tenderly handmade piece of pottery.</p><p> </p><p>Before she pulled the rest of the paper off, Kara initially thought it was a simple, black-glazed plate. But then she noticed… polka dots?</p><p> </p><p>With the paper fully off and conscientiously discarded in Tiff and Steph’s recycling bin, Kara looked back to the plate in her hands, and stared. It was…</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Krypton</em>,” she breathed. She gazed unblinkingly at a mostly-accurate recreation of the same image of her native solar system she’d had to memorize in school from a young age, and had seen thereafter on posters in educational and administrative buildings alike. There was her birth planet, and its red sun, and even a few major constellations. The distances between Krypton and its neighboring planets were true to proportion, and even had the correct number of moons in orbit.</p><p> </p><p>The vaguely green hue of Krypton was even close to accurate. “How…”</p><p> </p><p>Kara tried again around the lump in her throat. “How did you… make this?”</p><p> </p><p>“I asked the instructor of my pottery class if I could use the kiln after class for a special project,” Tiff said quietly. She understood Kara’s searching look and continued uncertainly, “I might’ve also asked Bruce for some, um, maps. I think he might’ve even asked Superman for references, and he mentioned some kind of study he ran on his computers about, ah, space gas? All because I asked him what color he thought Krypton was…”</p><p> </p><p>Tiff shifted nervously. “I was worried about it looking close to- to how it did,” she said, “but you recognized it, so that’s- good?”</p><p> </p><p>Kara had pressed her hand to her mouth, and was cradling the plate to her chest. She shifted her hand a little to rasp, “Yeah,” and nod. “It’s really good.”</p><p> </p><p>The blonde moved to gingerly set the gift on Tiff’s bed so that she could embrace her girlfriend’s blurry outline. As she bent to rest her head on top of Tiff’s, Kara realized she was shaking a little.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry,” Tiff said, sounding muffled but definitely emotional herself. “I didn’t mean to…” she trailed off as Kara patted her back.</p><p> </p><p>“No, no, this-” Kara awkwardly wiped her eyes- “Don’t be sorry for this. This might be the best present I’ve ever gotten.”</p><p> </p><p>The shorter girl sniffed. “Really?”</p><p> </p><p>Kara nodded and kissed her hair, then pulled back slightly to search the room for tissues.</p><p> </p><p>A while later, after they had blown their noses, lovingly fixed each other’s hair and spent some time exchanging soft words and kisses, Kara once again brought up the topic of her secondary gift. She set about the difficult, but certainly not impossible, task of convincing Tiff to take a Sunday afternoon off. Fortunately, this was also made easier by the fact that Kara could show her girlfriend the (purchase-free!) preparations she had already made.</p><p> </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p> </p><p>The couple made a quick stop at the Danvers residence to grab the enormous picnic basket Kara’s mom had been perhaps a little <em>too</em> excited to help her dig out of the basement the night before. “I’m just glad to see this old thing being used!” she had beamed. Eliza never made any effort to conceal just how enthusiastic she was about Kara dating Tiff, which Kara abided without comment mainly because it seemed to please Tiff.</p><p> </p><p>The basket, which Kara had enlisted her mother’s help in packing so that she might account for every conceivable need, included water bottles (four), snacks (many and varied), sunscreen (SPF 50), aloe vera (just in case), flip-flops (two pairs), Kara’s sunglasses (for appearances), books (two, both of which Jeremiah had procured after being asked for “beach reads”), a big beach blanket (ancient), and three towels (what if something happened to the first two?). Kara had packed Tiff’s sunglasses and cover-up in her backpack while Tiff changed into a swimsuit under her clothes, though the shorter girl also wore a coat, hat, and gloves for the flight.</p><p> </p><p>Kara had left the picnic basket right next to the front door specifically so that she could grab it without disturbing her parents, but it had since mysteriously moved to- Kara glanced through the walls- the living room, where her parents were unsubtly lying in wait. She sighed through her nose in defeat.</p><p> </p><p>She called out a greeting to them and led Tiff into the living room. Jeremiah and Eliza greeted them both warmly, asking after Tiff’s classes and the latest developments with the cheerleading squad. Kara sped to change into her Supergirl suit (with a swimsuit underneath) for the longer flight. When she returned downstairs, Eliza had started making sounds about getting Tiff some hot chocolate, or even some coffee (her parents never offered <em>Kara</em> coffee!). Kara cleared her throat and made their excuses.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine, fine, I’m sure you girls are ready to get going on your date!” Eliza acknowledged, while her husband grinned next to her. “It was great to see you as always, Tiff, honey!”</p><p> </p><p>Kara shuffled herself, Tiff, and the bulky basket out the door faster as Jeremiah called “Have fun, you two! And Kara, your curfew still stands-”</p><p> </p><p>Thoroughly embarrassed and feeling more like fourteen than twenty, Kara recalled the days she’d worried about coming out to them. Now she almost wished they <em>were</em> just a little more homophobic, if only so that they’d demonstrate less interest in her love life.</p><p> </p><p>From her position in Kara’s arms somewhere over the North Carolina coastline, Tiff ventured, “So where is it, exactly, that we’re going?”</p><p> </p><p>“I thought, since it’s your gi- uh, experience, that you could pick the location? Just let me know when you see a beach that looks good,” Supergirl explained.</p><p> </p><p>“When I see a beach that looks good?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, like, the ones here don’t seem super crowded, but it’s also kind of cold, and the whole reason I picked this for our date was because I remembered you saying you missed the sunshine and warmer weather, so I’m guessing farther south…”</p><p> </p><p>“Kara.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p> </p><p>“I literally cannot see the beaches from this high up. There’s just ocean and not-ocean.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, is it a pretty view, at least?” At this, Tiff snickered and squirmed around until she faced her girlfriend fully.</p><p> </p><p>“The best view, actually.”</p><p> </p><p>Kara blushed and flew a little faster.</p><p> </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p> </p><p>They finally settled on a beach in Florida. Kara had found an empty alleyway for herself to change into regular clothes and Tiff to shed her coat, hat, and gloves. Supergirl mentally patted herself on the back for requesting the huge basket so they’d have room to stow their clothes in it. Tiff tried to pick it up afterwards, nearly failed at the task, and informed Kara she could carry it to the beach for them. The Kryptonian grinned as she took the basket from her five-foot tall girlfriend.</p><p> </p><p>They set up the blanket and towels on an empty stretch of beach, perfectly situated for them to enjoy the 75-degree weather and sunshine.</p><p> </p><p>“This is incredible,” Tiff sighed as she lay down and stared up at clear blue sky and puffy, little white clouds for the first time in what felt like months.</p><p> </p><p>“Super, even?” Kara quipped as she grabbed the sunblock and a water bottle for her girlfriend.</p><p> </p><p>They’d sunbathed for a while, holding hands, and went for a swim once they were sufficiently warm just because they could. Tiff splashed salty water at Kara, and the droplets glinted gold in the sunlight for a moment as Kara turned at the noise. Tiff’s mischievous grin turned soft as she felt something expand, warm and glad, in her chest.</p><p> </p><p>Kara cocked her head questioningly, and Tiff said, “I love you.” Kara grinned back, wide and bright as the sun itself, and pulled Tiff in for a kiss.</p><p> </p><p>Some time later, as they reclined in the sun with Tiff seated back against Kara’s chest (“It’s a shame you couldn’t fit beach chairs in that monster basket,” she’d jokingly lamented before swiftly making do with Kara’s lap), Kara’s stomach fell as she heard the ultrasonic chirp of her comm from its place in the basket with her suit. She sprang forward, and Tiff gave her an offended look as she was evicted without apparent cause from her erstwhile seating arrangement.</p><p> </p><p>Supergirl quickly put the communicator in her ear and gave the standard phrase to ask what new global disaster had arisen and required her involvement (she’d specifically asked Kal to cover today for her since <em>he</em> was single, dammit!).</p><p> </p><p>Oracle’s voice sounded in her ear. “Not an emergency,” she began, “but there’s a matter I think you could clear up most efficiently.”</p><p> </p><p>Kara knew Babs wouldn’t call her today without good reason, but still. “I’m out of town on personal…” <em>not business…</em> “stuff?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” Oracle said. “And coincidentally, there has been significant concern that Pink Panther’s phone is off, and they haven’t answered any texts since this morning.” Due to the number of kidnapping incidents involving members of the Wayne family, all of Bruce’s kids had assigned codenames. Steph had jokingly suggested Pink Panther for Tiff, and somehow, it had stuck.</p><p> </p><p>Kara kicked herself for not reminding Tiff to text Steph or something before they left. They hadn’t brought their phones for the trip, since private corporations and other interested parties tended to notice when your phone’s GPS suddenly traveled the span of four states in under half an hour.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh,” Supergirl replied intelligently. “That is, ah, not an issue. Panther and I are in,” she coughed, “a secure location.” Tiff, who had been looking on with concern, now leveled a disbelieving look her way.</p><p> </p><p>“I can hear seagulls,” Oracle remarked conversationally. Her tone betrayed very little, but years of friendship had Kara nearly certain she was smiling.</p><p> </p><p>“...Yeah.” Supergirl paused. “It’s secure because I’m here?” She was met with the silence that statement probably deserved.</p><p> </p><p>“So anyway,” Kara said. “All clear. I can put Panther on?”</p><p> </p><p>“No need. Most of us were pretty sure we knew what had happened.” The voice of dissent went unnamed, but Kara had a sudden, chilling vision of the Dark Knight, Kryptonite in hand and out for her blood. It passed as Tiff nudged her side reassuringly, probably in response to whatever expression Kara’s face was making.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, then,” Kara said a little too hastily. “Have fun with D- uh, Ni- I mean,” she halted, tried to remember all the rules about what information she was not supposed to reveal over comms, and finished with, “have fun with whatever plans you might or might not have for tonight!”</p><p> </p><p>“You too. Oracle out.” Yeah, Babs was definitely laughing. Kara put the comm away and summarized the conversation for Tiff, who looked a little abashed at having forgotten to let her family know she was going out.</p><p> </p><p>“I always forget…” she trailed off quietly, and at Kara’s soft “what?” she elaborated with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>“That I have so many people who care about me.”</p><p> </p><p>Kara put an arm around her girlfriend and kissed her, before poking her in the arm, just above her watch. “Speaking of care, I think it’s time for us to reapply your sunscreen?”</p><p> </p><p>Tiff agreed noncommittally, but then turned to the blonde with a sly look. “I think it’s time to reapply yours, too.”</p><p> </p><p>The Kryptonian frowned. “But I don’t need…” she trailed off in understanding as Tiff squeezed a dollop of sunscreen roughly the size of a raindrop into her palm and began to all but grope at Kara’s bicep and shoulder. A light breeze blew some sand onto their blanket, but other than that, neither could think of anything they would change about the scene. As they watched the sunset a few hours later, Kara reflected with no small amount of gratification that she’d pulled off one of the most fantastic feats of her short career.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>+Bonus:</p><p>“So if I carried you over state lines to a place you’ve never been before, without letting your family know first,” Kara mused, “does this count as an alien abduction?  Like, technically?”</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>Man, I set out to write a short fic of ~1.5k words just to make my girlfriend smile. But then, for the first time in my life, the story practically wrote itself, and the words just kept coming. As someone who has historically hated writing like nothing else, that's saying a lot. Love is a crazy thing.</p><p>This is the first work I've published on here, and I'm still in school and trying to improve, so any comments or suggestions are absolutely welcome! Seriously, comments and kudos would mean a lot. &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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